It's been a while since I've stayed here, but I've been meaning to post a review-- we stayed i think 3 days in Santo Domingo, and booked this place since it was in the zona colonial and seemed like a nice place. It is a very nice place, the pool was nice (the view's kind-of strange-- you can look at other balconies, and they can look at you-- whatever). Yeah, the front desk isn't exactly brimming with friendliness, but they will attend to you, and they will do what they can to accomodate (like when we had to leave for the bus to go to Punta Cana they called the bus company and found the times and prices and called a cab company to take us there). The breakfast could use some improving, but I didn't really want to eat there anyway-- I wanted to get out and explore! Some have not liked the shower with no curtain, I thought it was refreshing and fine. There is a nice atrium style architecture, which I enjoyed. You will be in the center of the zona colonial, which means you will be harrassed and bothered to buy things, use a cab, etc.

Overall, I thought it was very nice, and very well maintained, and liked it very much.

Palacio is a nice little pension/hotel. It's very centrally located to the main tourist spots (walkable). Clean and seems to have a lot of security, both around the zona colonial, and at the hotel (@ night) -- enough to make the fears die down and actually enjoy walking around at night. There's an in-room safe, and the rooms are large. The rooftop pool is a little on the cool side - but overall, the place is clean, well maintained. We'd stay there again.

Tips:

1. bring enough cash with you, since the hotel doesn't always have enough for exchange - (the airport is a total rip off for currency exchange).

2. If you get desperate, there's a hard rock cafe about 2 blocks away (cheaper than the maison de bari and a lot of the other tourist traps) and a whole strip of cute little restaurants on that same main "drag". btw - there are actually a lot of coupons for restaurants that are in the little 1/2 page sized local guide, for places where we ate (noticed the coupons a few days after we left Santo Domingo and were trying to figure out how to match the pictures to the sights).

3: We did take a cooking class in Santo Domingo, at a place called Cookers and Friends (just excellent - arrange in advance) - it's a cab ride, but well worth it.

4. Also, another very authentic Dominican restaurant was called Restaurante Conuco (El) - Calle Casimiro de Moya No. 152. The food was pretty good, but the dancing (to watch) was really quite something.

We stayed here from Jan 1st 2010 through Jan 4th. We liked the location- it was very easy to walk to nearby restaurants and sightseeing. The streets of Santo Domingo are a bit chaotic, and we enjoyed the quiet and well landscaped courtyard at the end of the day. Our room was very clean, although small (it was the least expensive in the house), and we really appreciated the clean, modern bathroom, the stocked minifridge, and strong wifi signal. The continental breakfast was okay...I generally just got coffee, juice, and cereal. The overall atmosphere at this hotel is excellent. We found the staff helpful. Only downside to the location is true to the entire Colonial Zone, a bit tricky to navigate given the one way, rather narrow streets. Once you are there, the pedestrian experience is quite enjoyable. If you like to travel a bit off the beaten path, this place is a gem.

I went in following the good reviews here. we liked the location of the hotel. It is smack
right on Av.Duarte, close to El Conde where the action is. The monuments are all close
by. The pool at the roof top was nice to chill off. The staff spoke English and were always
helpful. We had the breakfast plan built into our price. They even packed us the breakfast
when we had to leave at 6am one morning to go to Island Catalina for a tour. Of course,
we requested for it the prior evening. The hotel has a car parking underground and is
fully secured. Everyone was helpful. The maid made the beds everyday and cleaned the
room. The breakfast is nice with eggs, waffles, mangu, breads, cereals, yogurt, juices etc. We were afraid that we were not staying at the Malecon. However, i would not worry
much about it. We saw tourist police stationed on all the streets. We even walked from
El Conde (Hard Rock Cafe) to the hotel after 9pm and did not feel unsafe. Just keep
all valuables in the hotel safe and have a low key profile anywhere you travel on the island. If one stays as a lawful tourist and practises common travel precautions, one will
be just fine. If one gets into the activities of the underworld, trouble will come to you fast.
We drove all over the Island from Santiago to Puerto Plata to Santo Domingo and we
managed it without knowing spanish. On the average, people are nice and laidback.
Also the hotel has 2 computers at the lobby where one will need to toss in 5peso coins
for every 2 minutes of internet access. The front desk will change the money for you.
We found that the exchange rates in Santo Domingo are much better than Santiago and
Puerto Plata, where they rip you off at 35 pesos to the Dollar versus Santo Domingo, where they use 36 pesos. Could be due to rate fluctuations during our trip - i am not sure. we took travellers check with us as a back up just in case we got robbed or mugged and lost all cards and cash. We had no need for it. We also took a GSM phone
and purchased a Claro SIM card for use during our trip. I would be very wary of the tour agencies. Shop, Shop, Shop. They will sell you a tour that is high priced and will not fit
your plans. I found it the hard way, too late. A travellers time is precious and they don't
respect it. I had a bad taste with Colonial Tours, recommended by the hotel. Call multiple tour agencies. Ask questions before making a committment. Reject the offer
for providing guide services at ALL tourist locations, monuments etc. In the zona colonial,
we used one of those horse drawn carriages to go around the town. We had little ones
and it was helpful to avoid the walking in the humid sun. Negotiate down the price for
every service in this country. That is one aspect i hate about. It is such a waste of time.